Brazil: Ports of Southern Paraná state have the best January in their history with 4.1 million tons

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The year has already started with a record in terms of handling in the ports of Paraná, as January closed with 4.15 million tons of cargo, between exports and imports.

The volume handled in the first month is 15% higher than the almost 3.6 million tons recorded in the same period of 2020 and the best January in the ports’ history.

“This was the best first month we have ever had in movement. It is the first time we exceeded four million tons in the first month,” commented Portos do Paraná CEO, Luiz Fernando Garcia. The previous record for the month of January had been recorded in 2016: 3.76 million tons.

“The new historical record was mainly driven by the increase in exports, with soybeans as the main product,” highlights Garcia.

He explains that the volume of soybeans exported is unexpected for the month and follows the pace that had already been coming since the end of last year. “In January last year, almost no soybeans were shipped here. This year, however, there were 714,870 tons,” he says.

According to operators in the segment, the volume in Porto de Paranaguá would be the remainder of the last harvest, which producers now need to sell to accommodate the new crop.

In January, the volume exported was almost 2.19 million tons of cargo, 25% more than the 1.74 million tons recorded in January 2021. In addition to soybeans, the most shipped products in the last month through the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina were soybean meal (345,310 tons), sugar (224,009 tons); corn (218,358 tons); and chicken (176,425 tons).

On the other hand, the cargo volume imported by the Paraná terminals totaled 1.8 million tons, 7% more than the 1.68 million tons imported in January of last year.

The products that landed in the most significant volume at the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina were fertilizers: 903,300 tons in the last 31 days, almost 17% higher than the 772,838 tons landed in January 2021.

In addition to fertilizers, the most unloaded products in January were petroleum derivatives (410,834 tons), alcohol (70,412 tons), and malt and barley (69,090 tons).